The one thing I will say about this story, is that Giblin captures what little humor and wit I have. To that I say, well done sir.

GOP operative Sean Noble on mend after wreck

Tuesday, 07 July 2009 16:24 Paul Giblin

By Paul Giblin
The Arizona Guardian

Republican political strategist Sean Noble is recovering from injuries he sustained in an early morning car wreck Saturday.

Doctors removed Noble’s spleen during emergency surgery Saturday after he rolled his 2000 Infiniti I30 sedan two or three times south of Cordes Junction.

The former top aide to U.S. Rep. John Shadegg has been recovering at John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital in Phoenix and expects to be discharged Wednesday.

Noble said he is getting along fine without his spleen.

“I don’t miss it. I really didn’t have much of a relationship with it,” he told the Guardian in a telephone interview.

He has been able to work a bit from the hospital, but his conservative political blog “Noble Thinking” has been uncharacteristically inactive in recent days.

Noble was returning home after speaking about tolerance and acceptance at a Mormon youth camp near Prescott. He decided to make the late-night drive because his teen-age daughter Kinsey recently had spinal surgery and he wanted to be with her.

He remembers the incident clearly.

He was headed south on Interstate 17, driving at 75 mph, listening to Tom Petty on the radio. It’s important to note, he said, that despite his well-earned reputation of being a BlackBerry addict, he was not using the device at the time. He had just checked the time; it was 12:20 a.m.

“I was sipping a soda and singing ‘Free Falling,’” he said.

It had rained earlier and he came upon a patch of water on the highway that caused his car to hydroplane, he said. The Infiniti spun and slid toward the edge of the highway.

Noble saw dirt next to the pavement and knew things were going to end poorly.

“The first thing that went through my mind is, ‘You’ve got to kidding me. The last thing I need is to be stranded here at this time of night,” he said.

The tires caught on the dirt and the car rolled two or three times – or more precisely, 2½ or 3½ times – stopping on its roof. Noble found himself hanging upside down from his seatbelt. Every window was shattered.

He unbuckled himself and crawled out a window. He couldn’t find his cell phone, so he walked back to the highway and waited about 10 minutes for another motorist to drive by.

Noble said he didn’t realize he was badly injured, though later tests indicated that his spleen was damaged and that he had internal bleeding.

“I was totally mobile. I was sore. What I thought was that I had broken a few ribs,” he said. “I’m just glad someone stopped.”

A motorist named Patrick stopped, called 911 and allowed Noble to use his phone to contact his wife. Noble sat in the Good Samaritan’s car until rescue personnel arrived. After the rescue team showed up, Patrick drove off. Noble never got his full name.

Noble said he’s thankful for the first responders and the doctors who treated him. And he’s been overwhelmed by the number and kindness of well-wishers who have contacted him since the wreck.

“I wish I hadn’t put myself in that position, but I’m glad I survived,” he said.

Shadegg said he’s spoken to Noble since the crash and has teased him about his poor driving.

“You can tell him I said the conservative movement needs bright and talented people like him and he needs to stop risking it with these car accidents,” Shadegg said.

Noble worked on Shadegg’s staff for more than a decade, finishing as chief of staff. Currently, he’s serving as a campaign consultant for 2010 GOP candidate Jim Ward in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District race, and he’s working on a national campaign opposed to President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative.